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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23618716">Part of The Team</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/frootjuiceg/pseuds/frootjuiceg'>frootjuiceg</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Canon, Canon Compliant, Character Study, Confessions, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Light Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Relationship Study, Season/Series 02 Spoilers, Season/Series 03 Spoilers, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Spoilers, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, and a lot of blushing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 17:08:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,379</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23618716</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/frootjuiceg/pseuds/frootjuiceg</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“I-I just wanted to tell you, that I respect you a lot, Tsukki. I’m so amazed that you keep getting better with every set we play and I’m so happy for you. So, I think you really have every right to be proud of yourself right now.”  He suddenly heard footsteps and noticed that Tsukishima had stepped right in front of him, a little too close for Yamaguchi’s weak heart.</p><p>“It wasn’t because I was proud of myself…” Tsukishima started. Were his cheeks still so red because of the game?</p><p>“I felt happy because I was proud of you..”</p><p>OR</p><p>After their prefectural games, Tsukishima needs to cope with his feelings about volleyball and a certain green-haired server, and Yamaguchi wants to simply help his best friend with them.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>141</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Through thin..</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is my first fic ever, so I'm really nervous about posting it! Tsukishima and Yamaguchi are my babies, but they're just too damn oblivious, so I needed to give them some fluffy moments together.</p><p>Contains some spoilers for season 2 of Haikyuu, since I'm still one of those fools who have to watch out for spoilers :pp<br/>Hope to hear your thoughts about my fic!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Yamaguchi still couldn’t believe it. They had just won a game against Aoba Johsai, which had been their biggest accomplishment as a team so far. More importantly, Yamaguchi’s personal goal of being a useful player for the team had also been reached, when he had scored 5 points with his serves alone. He still felt giddy every time he thought about the adrenaline-inducing feeling of getting a service ace on the court. But more than that he had been of help and a part of their team and heard everyone cheer not only <em>to </em>him but also <em>with </em>him. That was a feeling he never wanted to forget. He thought back on the encouragements of his teammates. But more important to him than any other, was that Tsukishima had supported him.</p><p>Yamaguchi knew that they had a deep and close relationship for many years now. They basically knew everything about each other. He wanted to think he could read Tsukishima, since the other boy rarely spoke about his feelings. He himself always carried his heart on his sleeve and was open about how much their friendship meant to him. They usually didn’t have to speak about themselves but showed their profound friendship through small actions, support and loyalty to each other.</p><p>That’s why the fight they had had a few months prior had been a turning point in their relationship. They almost never fought, because Tsukishima always tried to keep his feelings to himself and Yamaguchi always decided not to make Tsukishima uncomfortable by talking about them. But seeing Tsukishima basically self-destruct with his behavior and not appreciate himself and his own skills, was something that finally had made Yamaguchi snap. He was not proud of basically jumping down Tsukishima’s throat, but afterwards he felt like Tsukki was opening up to him more than usually. He more often asked about Yamaguchi progress and showed more interest to practice. That’s why Yamaguchi could not be happier of Tsukishima supporting and praising him in his own way. That thought specifically brought a blush to Yamaguchi’s face.</p><p>Since Yamaguchi felt he had finally accomplished something himself, so he more than anything wanted to celebrate it together with his best friend and teammate. The whole team was in their locker room, packing their things and celebrating. Yamaguchi wasn’t surprised when he saw Tsukishima swiftly take his bag and head outside. His best friend was not the most social of people and didn’t usually enjoy being in big groups, even if it was his team.</p><p>Tsukishima’s behavior made Yamaguchi worry nonetheless, so he decided to follow the blond. He didn’t want his best friend to feel left alone or excluded. Even if Yamaguchi had made a couple of points on the court himself, Tsukishima had showed multiple times during the game how skilled, smart and strategic he was. Yamaguchi really wanted to tell him that, not wanting to downplay Tsukishima’s accomplishments.</p><p>He had admired Tsukki from the very first day he met them and had always known that Tsukishima was exactly someone he had needed in his life. He had noticed his growing feelings towards his best friend a long ago but had ignored them when he knew that it would not have led anywhere. But now.. after many years he felt his feelings surface again stronger than ever. He still didn’t really know what he wanted, only that his eyes were always glued to Tsukishima when he was on the court again. When he sometimes caught Tsukishima staring or observing his serving practise, it always made a blush surface on his face.</p><p>Tsukishima was walking through the hallways, passing other teams and players, some of whom were whispering something when passing the blond. Yamaguchi was following him far enough to frown at the whisperers.</p><p>Tsukishima finally turned to a door on a quiet hallway on the back of the school. Yamaguchi didn’t remember being there before, but Tsukishima seemed to know the way well. Tsukishima opened the door outside which lead into the backyard of the school.  An afternoon ray of sunlight lit his face and Yamaguchi was completely awestruck at how beautiful Tsukishima’s blond hair shone in the sun.</p><p>Tsukishima walked outside and Yamaguchi sneaked behind the door and saw Tsukishima’s back only a few meters away from him, basking in the warm afternoon sun. He hadn’t noticed Yamaguchi’s presence, but he very slowly took of his new glasses and wrapped them in his hands. He sighed very slowly, and Yamaguchi saw him trembling just a bit. He immediately became worried about his friend feeling upset, but soon jumped out of his skin as Tsukishima screamed into the air.</p><p>“Yeeeeeees!!!!” Yamaguchi heard him shout, and Tsukishima pumped his fist in the air, looking ecstatic. Yamaguchi could not tear his eyes away from the back of Tsukishima’s head and he felt a huge relief and a warmth wash over himself. It didn’t help at all when he heard Tsukishima laughed to himself quietly, but genuinely, something Yamaguchi rarely had the honor of hearing. Yamaguchi felt his heart melt in his chest for how happy he felt for his friend. <em>It was right for Tsukki to celebrate his own accomplishments, even if he wanted to do it out of anyone’s sight. He did once again play an amazing game. </em>Still Yamaguchi couldn’t push help feeling a little sad Tsukishima didn’t want to share this moment with him.</p><p>After Tsukishima’s stopped laughing, he sighed once more, looking like all the tenseness from his shoulders had faded away. Tsukishima crouched down to the ground, drawing circles into the sand. He rested his cheek on his arm, and Yamaguchi must have been just imagining when he thought he saw Tsukki’s cheeks and ears blush pink. After a while of Tsukishima being clearly lost in his own thoughts, Yamaguchi thought he should make sure that his friend was okay, and maybe, <em>just maybe</em> they could share this happy moment of celebration together.</p><p>He turned around the corner and stared at Tsukishima’s back as he was still crouched on the ground.</p><p>“Tsukki...” he started quietly but loud enough that Tsukishima could notice his presence “Are you okay?”</p><p>Tsukishima quickly turned his head and stared shocked at Yamaguchi. The intruding boy started to fear that surprising Tsukishima like this wasn’t a good idea after all.</p><p>“Yamaguchi...” Tsukishima blinked and stood up to face him. Yamaguchi was still standing by the door on the threshold so that they were basically the same height. Tsukishima didn’t seem to continue, staring at Yamaguchi with unbelieving eyes, so Yamaguchi continued to explain himself at the confused Tsukishima.</p><p>“I just saw you leave before others and wanted to check that you were okay.” Yamaguchi rubbed the back of his neck.</p><p>“But I think you actually looked really happy just now… So I guess there was no reason for me to worry in the first place, haha…” he laughed awkwardly and turned his eyes to his shoes for what he was about to say.</p><p>“I-I just wanted to tell you, that I respect you a lot, Tsukki. I’m so amazed that you keep getting better with every set we play and I’m so happy for you. I just.. hope that someday we could be equals and play together again. So, I think you really have every right to be proud of yourself right now.” He felt his face heat up so much he couldn’t turn to look at Tsukishima. He suddenly heard footsteps and noticed that Tsukishima had stepped right in front of him, a little too close for Yamaguchi’s weak heart.</p><p>Tsukishima looked to his side and was clearly uncomfortable, Yamaguchi concluded as he lifted his gaze. Tsukishima wasn’t wearing his glasses, so Yamaguchi thought he could get away with inspecting Tsukishima’s face for a while. The golden sunrise from behind Tsukishima framed his now almost glittering hair and Yamaguchi was especially intrigued by the color of Tsukishima’s eyes and lashes that he so rarely saw properly because of his glasses.<em> The evening sun complimented Tsukki’s skin color so well.</em></p><p>“It wasn’t because I was proud of myself…” Tsukishima started. Yamaguchi was immediately worried and wanted to say something but felt like he had to let the other finish. It was still rare for Tsukishima to be so open about his feelings. More than that Tsukishima didn’t look disappointed or sad, but embarrassed and actually.. <em>flustered?</em> <em>Were Tsukishima’s cheeks still so red because of the game?</em></p><p>“I felt happy because I was proud of you..” Tsukishima looked like he wanted the earth to swallow him.</p><p><em>‘Whaaat?’</em> Yamaguchi’s mind was shouting but he just blinked, completely frozen and not knowing how to react. Tsukishima turned to face the shorter boy when he heard him sniffle once. Yamaguchi couldn’t help starting to cry, finally feeling like he could let out all his frustration, pressure and worry he had had for his team, for himself, but also for his best friend. He felt a sting in his heart that he interpreted as being overwhelmingly happy. He looked up at Tsukishima with his teary eyes, who was now staring down at him with a mesmerized look on his face. Yamaguchi could not for the life of him find the right words, so he felt like he wanted to be selfish for once.</p><p>He threw his arms around Tsukishima’s upper body, so that his best friend’s arms were wrapped under Yamaguchi’s hug. Yamaguchi kept sobbing and leaned his head onto Tsukishima’s chest. He kept sniffling and didn’t notice until after a while that Tsukishima had also wrapped his arms around Yamaguchi. They stood in each other’s arms quietly for a while.</p><p>Yamaguchi slowly tried lifting his head, but soon noticed that he shouldn’t have, when he felt that Tsukishima had been leaning his face onto the shorter boy’s head, basically sunk into Yamaguchi’s hair. Tsukishima was smiling smugly but tenderly down at Yamaguchi. The shorter boy felt embarrassed by his outburst and swiftly released Tsukishima from his hold.</p><p>“I… am glad I could be part of the team, but..” The words from the players of Aoba Johsai quickly flashed in his mind. “I guess I was just lucky” he grinned softly at Tsukishima, trying to hide his self-doubt.</p><p>“First of all, you were always part of the team.” He said, calm and serious, but clearly a bit irritated.</p><p>“Second, you have worked just as much as everyone else, if not even more. You have a right to be proud of yourself too. You are just as important and strong as all the others in our team. So, don’t underestimate the huge time and effort you have invested in our team and in yourself. I believed in you right from the start anyway.” He wasn’t looking at Yamaguchi, sounding like what he said had always been obvious to him, but also failing to hide a small blush on his face.</p><p>Yamaguchi felt like he had ruined the nice, sincere moment that they had just had. Something had really moved in his heart, but now he was also a bit relieved that Tsukki was back to his calm, cool-headed self. He didn’t know what he would have accidentally done, since he was definitely feeling way too bold after their touching hug. At that moment he hadn’t really wanted to let go of Tsukishima. Being close to the blond felt like the rightest thing in the world, in the same time something he had missed his whole life.</p><p>He sighed and decided that Tsukishima was right, like he usually was. “I’m sorry, thanks, Tsukki.” he put on the widest smile he could master to end the conversation. He swore he saw Tsukishima’s eyes widen a bit when their eyes locked again. Tsukishima wasn’t smiling.</p><p>Yamaguchi’s own smile dropped also immediately when he felt a warm hand on his right cheek. He stared right into Tsukishima’s eyes to look for answers of what was happening. He only saw Tsukishima’s face getting closer to his left cheek. He did not know what to think, but he was somehow waiting to feel Tsukki’s… <em>lips???</em> on his cheek. The thought made him panic. He thought he must have misunderstood Tsukishima’s intentions and backed away just a little from being so close to his best friend.</p><p>Tsukishima suddenly stopped drawing closer to Yamaguchi and instead tried to look into the shorter boy’s eyes. When Yamaguchi remained standing still and avoided facing Tsukishima, the blond decided to change his line of cation. He met Yamaguchi's embarrassed glance, just inces away form the other's face, and whispered softly smiling.</p><p>“You were great, Yamaguchi.”</p><p>The calm words vibrated straight into Yamaguchi's core and the taller boy caressed very lightly Yamaguchi’s cheek with his thumb, lifted his hand away from his cheek and walked past him.</p><p>Yamaguchi froze for a moment, until he realized that Tsukishima wanted him to follow them back to the locker rooms and he turned to do that. What he couldn’t see was Tsukishima frowning to himself after Yamaguchi had turned away, when he clearly tried to kiss his cheek. They walked silently back to the locker rooms, where some of the members were still changing their clothes.</p><p>“Where were you guys?” Hinata asked as he spotted the two at the door.</p><p>“In the bathroom” the taller boy said. He was once acting like the calm Tsukishima everyone in the team knew.</p><p>The team left together to go back to the bus. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were walking side by side without still having said anything after their private moment. Yamaguchi felt so embarrassed that he couldn’t start the conversation anyway, even though he was usually the one blabbering about all kinds of stuff to Tsukishima. He didn’t know if Tsukishima wanted to talk about what had happened or if he was just reading too much into it.</p><p>“Back at school do you still want to practice some serves?” he heard Tsukishima ask beside him. He interpreted that Tsukishima wanted to forget the incident, at least for now, and felt relieved himself.</p><p>“That-That would be nice” he answered and started talking about other things again like normal. During the bus ride he had a bit of time to think about what had happened. He glanced at the now sleeping Tsukishima on his right and once again felt a sting in his heart. Tsukishima had basically lied about where they had been, even though he usually wouldn’t reveal anything personal to the other members anyway. <em>Was he embarrassed about it?</em></p><p>Yamaguchi tried to analyze his own behavior too but always ended up in one solution. The butterflies he had felt in his stomach when he saw Tsukishima happy, hugging him, hearing his praises and the thought that Tsukishima might have<em> kissed </em>him on the cheek, were too strong to ignore. He knew he had once again fallen in love with Tsukishima, even harder this time.</p><p>He didn’t know what to think about it. He had not been brave enough to voice his feelings before either, so why could that have changed now? Well, many things had already changed, from the way he and Tsukishima interacted to how deep he felt their friendship was. He was still doubting that Tsukishima had just meant to support Yamaguchi that afternoon and nothing else. The moment had already ended, and everything had turned back to normal, so he felt he didn’t have the right to ruin it.</p><p>Tsukishima was one of the most important people in his life and his best friend, so he decided that losing him because of misjudging his own feelings to be reciprocated would have been too big of a risk. Tomorrow they were also going to have their most important game so far, and he didn’t want to stir his or Tsukishima’s feelings because of it.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you so much for reading the first chapter T^T<br/>Just so you know, the second chapter has even more blushing!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. .. and through thick, I guess.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The shorter boy left the locker room and was already approaching the back door of the school, where he had followed Tsukishima the day prior. He saw that the door was indeed slightly open, and Yamaguchi stepped outside. He stood there confused, when he first didn’t see Tsukishima anywhere. He then glanced to his left to find Tsukishima sitting on the ground, leaning against the building and hunched over.</p><p> </p><p>“So you found me..” he smiled, looking at his hands, the palms of which were still red and his right hand’s fingers taped together.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Still a lot of spoilers for seasons 2 and 3!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next day came and so came their unbelievable win against Shiratorizawa. The same locker room where they had celebrated just a day before, was just as cheery but calmer after no one could still quite believe what had happened. Everything seemed very content, but again Yamaguchi saw Tsukishima stand up after packing his training back and head for the door. He and Tsukishima had not talked about the game, and since the middle blocker hadn’t really reacted or said a word after the last set, Yamaguchi was anxious to hear Tsukishima’s thoughts.</p><p>Yamaguchi’s eyes glued to the blonds back, Tsukishima gave the boy a quick glance before turning around the corner. Yamaguchi tried to decide if he could interpret as hoping Yamaguchi to follow him or stay away from him. Tsukishima might just want to let his feelings out alone again like the day before, but something felt off to Yamaguchi. The pinch server decided to not let Tsukishima deal with his thoughts alone. They were best friends.. he had the right to know. <em>If Tsukki didn’t want to see him, he could just find a new place to hide.</em></p><p>The shorter boy left the locker room few minutes later and was already approaching the back door of the school, where he had followed Tsukishima the day prior. He saw that the door was indeed slightly open, and Yamaguchi stepped outside. He stood there confused, when he first didn’t see Tsukishima anywhere. He then glanced to his left to find Tsukishima sitting on the ground, leaning against the building and hunched over.</p><p>“So you found me..” he smiled, looking at his hands, the palms of which were still red and his right hand’s fingers taped together.</p><p>Yamaguchi didn’t say anything but walked over and sat next to Tsukishima. Their shoulders were just inches away but not touching. Yamaguchi hugged his own knees and stayed silent. Tsukishima had clearly tried to lighten the mood but Yamaguchi wanted to give the other boy a chance to speak his thoughts. Maybe the silence or something else had worked, since Tsukishima started to speak.</p><p>“I can’t believe how I couldn’t beat Ushijima in the end” Tsukishima gritted his teeth. Yamaguchi immediately felt bad for his friend. Yamaguchi knew how good the middle blocker was, but he could understand the frustration of disappointing yourself.</p><p>“No one could have fought him better, you did the best you could and you scored a lot of points. Everyone made some mistakes too. In the end our we just made fewer, and that’s why we won” Yamaguchi smiled quietly. He was so happy for their team, but he felt frustrated too not to be able to help the team on the court himself.</p><p>“No, I could have tried even harder. I could have finally been useful, but Ushijima’s spikes were so precise that it was nearly impossible to keep up” he spit.</p><p>“It was impossible, like you said. Don’t beat yourself up for something so little.” Yamaguchi was getting irritated himself. “You are on the court, so it means you are a valuable player.”</p><p>“How is it valuable that I had so many times to save the ball but I couldn’t.” Tsukishima clenched his fists hard. “It is not little to me, I can only compete against these teams with my brain and still wasn’t clever enough. Even my body failed me! You don’t get it!” he had raised his voice and stared at his bandaged hand.</p><p>“What don’t I get? You were on the court fighting for every point. Even from the bench I could see you were giving everything you had!” Yamaguchi felt so upset that Tsukishima didn’t see his own importance as a teammate. “You cannot say things like that serious when I know how good you are!” he was facing Tsukishima, both still sitting on the ground.</p><p>“But.. I finally felt it..” Tsukishima said a lot quieter now.</p><p>“Huh?” Yamaguchi was already angry, because he couldn’t understand what Tsukishima was saying. Didn’t he know how amazing, smart and beautiful he was? That Yamaguchi wasn’t even that disappointed to only watch the match, when he could see Tsukishima shine on the court?</p><p>“I felt the moment Bokuto had talked about.. that feeling of getting hooked..” Tsukishima lowered his head. “I finally had a goal, something I could use to fight with, even against teams with such incredible power and skill.. But I let myself down.” He covered his face with his hands and Yamaguchi could see his shoulders shaking just a bit. He didn’t sound sad, just angry.</p><p>“Even though I stood on the court and had a chance to fight, it wasn’t enough.” he was clearly crying now, big tears falling from in between his fingers.</p><p>But all of Yamaguchi’s anger had washed away. He was staring at the crying boy next to him. He noticed that he had never seen Tsukishima cry like this, or almost at all. Tsukishima was upset, angry, but never cried. He must feel devastated about himself.</p><p>Still Yamaguchi saw hope in the situation. He knew how refreshing it feels afterwards when you let your feelings out. Tsukishima had probably never done that, especially in front of someone else. To be someone Tsukishima trusted so much and who Yamaguchi could trust in return gave the green-haired boy the last piece to the puzzle he was trying to solve.</p><p>Yamaguchi felt happy, happy because he knew that Tsukishima would be fine now. He could listen to the blonds worries from here on and make sure that they could take care of each other and share their ups and downs. He finally felt content. He felt in love.</p><p>Tsukishima had lowered his hands from his face, tears still rolling down. He was not going to stop anytime soon, it seemed, when he had already opened this painful wound. Usually Yamaguchi would give him encouraging words or cry for Tsukishima when the other couldn’t, but this time neither of the options seemed fitting.</p><p>Instead Yamaguchi softly caressed Tsukishima’s chin and turned his friend’s head to face his own reassuring smile. He placed his hand to rest now on Tsukishima’s cheek and glanced questioning at Tsukishima’s eyes. The other boy had stopped crying as soon as he had felt a warm hand on his cheek.</p><p>When Yamaguchi soon turned his eyes to the taller boy’s lips, Tsukishima’s eyes widened and he parted his lips.</p><p>After a few seconds of hesitation Yamaguchi closed his eyes and softly placed his lips on Tsukishima’s. Tsukishima didn’t really reciprocate the kiss, since Yamaguchi backed away just as fast as he had entered the now blushing boy’s space.</p><p>Unbelieving of what he had done, he just stared at the golden eyes and stuttered:</p><p>“I-I just w-wanted you to stop crying..” he felt so embarrassed and unsure but still did not dare to face away from Tsukishima. It felt like he was seeing the other boy more clearly than ever and could now focus on how pretty Tsukishima’s eyes looked just a few centimeters from his face.</p><p>Tsukishima had not moved or basically done anything; he had just let it happen. <em>Oh, was he in a shock,</em> but he also wanted to see what Yamaguchi would do without him interrupting, to see how Yamaguchi truly felt.</p><p>After Yamaguchi finished his sentence, Tsukishima wanted to show his feelings to Yamaguchi too.</p><p>He bit his bottom lip slightly and gathered courage for just a second. He still felt the lip tingle from the touch Yamaguchi had left there. The Yamaguchi he admired and respected more than anyone else in his life and for whom he would do anything for, even if it was hard for him to actually show it. His best friend who always surprised him with how sentimental, smart and sincere he could be, who understood him completely and that he had grown to love as a friend and as person.</p><p>He returned his eyes to Yamaguchi, who was now very confused. Even if they were only centimeters apart, the moment Tsukishima placed his hand on the back of his neck and into his hair and in the same time closed the distance between them with a small smile on his face, had felt like a small eternity to Yamaguchi.</p><p>Now Tsukishima’s lips were again against his own, but on Tsukishima’s initiative.</p><p>It wasn’t just lips against lips this time, but Tsukishima kept pushing into his mouth and prying to open it, which Yamaguchi gladly did. They both had closed their eyes, just focusing on their mouths moving together and Tsukishima’s tongue getting a taste of the other boy’s lips. Yamaguchi had grabbed Tsukishima’s shirt to get him even closer.</p><p>They stayed like that, getting used to each other’s lips until they parted again. Both panted very quietly, not wanting to break the silence. Tsukishima leaned his forehead on Yamaguchi’s, who was smiling tenderly.</p><p>Neither of them were brave enough to lift their gazes, so Tsukishima ended up leaning on the other’s shoulder to stay still for just a while longer. Yamaguchi lifted his arm and wrapped it around Tsukishima’s shoulder, not really feeling embarrassed at all anymore, just peaceful.</p><p>He swore he could have just fallen asleep right there, embracing his cute best friend. He had already closed his eyes, when Tsukishima suddenly stood up and offered a hand to Yamaguchi to lift himself up too. He wiped his cheeks of the dried tears, nodded and smiled shyly to Yamaguchi until he started to walk back inside again for the award ceremony.</p><p>Yamaguchi followed the blond in silence. They will have time to properly talk about their feelings after their tournament was officially over.</p><p>                                                         -----------------</p><p>Not really looking at each other the couple sit next to each other on the bus like they always did. Everyone was still calmly celebrating their victory, so no one had asked about Tsukishima’s slightly more redder eyes.</p><p>Tsukishima was leaning on his hand and watching outside of the window with his headphones on, so Yamaguchi was left just glancing at the other boy’s hands, face or anywhere else for the matter, trying not to disturb him.</p><p>Not until Tsukishima suddenly placed his hand over Yamaguchi’s on his knee, that Yamaguchi was woken from his thoughts. He tried to look at Tsukishima who was still facing the window but decided to just smile to himself, intertwine their fingers and give Tsukishima’s hand a soft squeeze.</p><p>This was rewarded with Tsukishima hiding his face even more behind the hand he was leaning on and a slight blush reaching Tsukishima’s ears, which Yamaguchi found adorable.</p><p>Yamaguchi was over the moon when he thought about the fact that he and Tsukishima might feel the same way about each other. He already knew he was in probably in love with his best friend but only after their first kiss, was he sure what it meant for him. He didn’t just want to follow Tsukishima and support him, but to be relied on too and express his feelings through words and actions. He could not have guessed how ecstatic he would feel after just one kiss and he wanted more. He wanted to properly tell him his feelings even if he was still a bit afraid that Tsukishima had interpreted the moment differently.</p><p>After an hour of coach Ukai’s speech back at their gym, the pair left the locker room together. So far, walking together was just automatic to them, but this time it felt like a mutual understanding of wanting to spend time together.</p><p> “Are you still feeling bad?” the freckled boy finally asked after walking a while silently in the moon light. They didn’t live far away from the school, but usually used a beautiful path that traveled next to a rice field. On the other side of the road there were small houses, similar to the ones where both of their families lived in.</p><p>The other didn’t look at him. “Of course I’m upset.. I could have done so much better..”</p><p>“But you can learn from it!” beamed Yamaguchi and Tsukishima’s lips turned slightly upward too.</p><p>“You’re always so positive..” he sighed stretching his arms.</p><p>“Well, someone needs to be” Yamaguchi giggled back, and Tsukishima glanced at him to hear the adorable laughter. He blushed a little.</p><p>“Well, I guess I do feel a bit better thanks to a certain teammate..” Tsukishima smiled smugly.</p><p> “Ts-Tsukki!” Yamaguchi shrieked trying to get all of Tsukishima’s attention, which was working by the way the blond’s eyes had widened at the shorter boy. “I would actually really like to talk about that.. I mean, about us and.. and the.. kiss” his voice was getting quieter as his blush was getting bolder.</p><p>“And what about it?” Tsukishima still had the same smug look on his face.</p><p>“W-well..” Yamaguchi was looking around, not sure what he wanted to say himself. “I have always waited for the day that you might rely on me enough to show me your feelings and I’m really happy that you finally could. I really want to be by your side to help you and support you, just like I did today. I want to know all of you, even the parts you don’t want me to see. You are my most important friend. So.. thank you for today!” he blurted without really thinking.</p><p>Tsukishima burst out laughing. It was a genuine laugh and it made Yamaguchi grin too. “Are you thanking me for kissing you?” he laughed for a while, before looking down at Yamaguchi again. The light of the moon glistened in Tsukishima’s glasses and eyes.</p><p>“Was that all?” he had stopped laughing, a shy smile on his lips.</p><p>Yamaguchi quickly stood on his tiptoes and gave a small kiss on Tsukishima’s cheek.</p><p>“No..” he blushed. “I also like you a lot and want to be with you.. want to be someone special to you.”</p><p>Tsukishima touched softly the spot Yamaguchi had just kissed. A wide devious smile rose on his face. He placed his hands around Yamaguchi’s neck and pulled him closer, looking straight into his eyes.</p><p>“But you already are.”</p><p>“I have seen you grow so much as a person, more than I ever could." he continued. "I have believed in you every step of the way and your place in my life has always been special. Just this year I finally understood how special.” Yamaguchi was listening intently, but still couldn’t help his lip quivering.</p><p>“But I think there is one place in my life that only you could fill, if you just want to” Tsukishima’s face blushed a bit and he looked away embarrassed.</p><p> “And what is that?” Yamaguchi looked questioningly into the taller boy’s eyes, wanting to make sure, finally daring to place his own hands on Tsukishima’s waist.</p><p>“The place of my boyfriend”, Tsukishima grinned happily.</p><p>Yamaguchi let the sentence sink in for a second until he just hugged his crush, soon-to-be-boyfriend tightly and hid his face in his chest.</p><p>“Yeah..” he mumbled. “I’ll take it”, he now sniffled happily. Tsukishima kissed him on the forehead, until Yamaguchi turned his head up, finally wanting to kiss his boyfriend properly. He again reached on his tiptoes and captured Tsukishima’s lips, getting a small gasp from the other. He cupped Tsukishima’s cheek and caressed it with his finger. Tsukishima pulled his boyfriend even closer and sunk his hands in his hair for dear life.</p><p>“I want to be the best boyfriend you could ever have!”, he tried to stay manly after the sweet kiss, even with his furious blush.</p><p>Tsukishima just laughed and let go of Yamaguchi, taking hold of his hand instead. “When <em>did</em> you become so cool?” Tsukishima repeated the same question he had asked on the night he had realized his feelings for Yamaguchi. They started walking along the road to reach their homes.</p><p>“I’m serious, Tsukki.. You are the most amazing person I have ever met. I was already mesmerized by your confidence and bravery the moment we met. I would have wanted to tell you a long time ago how much you mean to me. But just this year I realized that you are not just important but irreplaceable in my life and that I.. sort of love you” Yamaguchi blushed.</p><p>Tsukishima squeezed his boyfriend’s hand a bit harder, unable to stop smiling. They were definitely going to go to his room and cuddle for the rest of the night.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Just reading this through I noticed how this is just pure cheesy fluff, but I need to see my boys just blushing and smiling together.<br/>Because I just watched the second and third season, I wanted to write something where I could analyze their character developments more detailed. Tsukishima is also my favorite character so I also really wanted to give him some love, and that they could together go through their feelings!</p><p>Thank you so much for reading til the end and I'd love to hear your comments! I hope you enjoyed it!! &lt;3</p>
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